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Carbide Toothed Band Saw Blade

My budget is very small. I purchased the cheapest band saw I could afford, a Craftsman on sale. It was less than $100. It worked, but just barely. Still having the same budget, but needing my band saw to perform much better, I did some research and discovered there were band saw blades made with carbide teeth. For about the same cost as the saw itself, I purchased one. I've recently been using it to cut frame components - wow. It makes my cheap Craftsman band saw cut like a dream. No more wandering cuts, cuts are smooth, accurate and quick. I don't need to replace the blade every week with a new, sharp, one. It is always sharp. Its one small con, is that its kerf is more than a typical steel blade, but that is more than made up for in the accuracy and smoothness of the carbide blades cut. Very little sanding would be required to have a nice finish, if what you were making needed such a finish.

At the same time, I also purchased a new fence, an 18" Pro Grip Clamp and Universal Fence. I also got the Pro Grip 90 Degree Head, which helps to ensure the fence is quickly and easily aligned properly. Conveniently this fence is easily moved to and used on my $90 table saw, which I use primarily as a cut-off saw, cutting longer pieces of lumber to length.

With these few accessories I have been able to get excellent performance from both my cheap band saw and cheap table saw tools, they would otherwise be considered pieces of junk.

Re: Carbide Toothed Band Saw Blade

raw timber and "Found Wood" that is junk you found lying around can have a lot of nails pebbles dirt sand etc. in them that will do a number on blades quickly. cut those with the cheap blades.

Cut quality clean wood with the carbide. that is bad enoguh and even good wood has sand in it. Plywood or any other wood with resin or glue in it is also hard on a blade. Plywood, particle board. OSB etc.

Eventually your blade will start acting dull. It isn't it is dirty. Carbide is very difficult to dull the teeth will chip more often than they will get dull. So get a good blade cleaning solution and hone your blade cleaning skills. with good care you will not need another blade for a very long time. I have a saw that has had the same blade for 5 years. and it is still cutting like a cot knife through butter if I keep it clean.

For a lower cost blade try timber wolf blades. they are top of the line. I know that a group at penturners.org used to put together group buys for them so you can get them at discount prices. You might want to go their and see if anyone is still doing them. Nice group of people.

Re: Carbide Toothed Band Saw Blade

Having just gummed up a nice 5/8" thin kerf blade hogging through a 5" piece of Spanish Cedar, i think my late birthday present is going to be one of those carbide blades. All that pine I saw seems to gum them up pretty fast -- a new blade cuts great for a while, but gradually the feed pressure starts going up and they start to cut funny.

I'll clean the big one, it's only made on long cut so far, and is gummy as all get out. Hopefully I didn't wipe all the set off the teeth!